Been a lot of talk about defending the triple option this summer, so I've gone back and taken a look at the 2011-12 games against Navy to see what exactly the defense was doing. There were two things that really stood out to me.
First was Zeke Motta. Motta was so quick getting down hill to make a play on the pitch man and did it often. Even if he wasn't making the tackle, he slowed down the back enough to allow pursuit to catch up, minimize the gain, and often led to Navy being in less desirable third down situations. If ND can find somebody to do that this season, it will also allow its best defensive player in Jaylon Smith to pursue the QB, which will be extremely critical considering the quality of triple option QB's ND will face this season.
The other thing that stood out was just how quickly and often the d-line was penetrating their backfield. Penetration obviously will disrupt any offense, but when you have to have such precision in making a choice between three different options, and the defense is constantly in your face, it is bound to lead to something bad. Bad reads, bad pitches, turnovers, you name it. Also, was noticing Navy tightening their normally wide splits to open up the fullback on the initial option. When you penetrate, force tighter splits, you take away the fullback and it is not triple option football anymore. I don't care who it is, but keep fresh legs in the GT Navy games who is getting in the backfield quickly and often, ND will win those games.
There's been a lot of talk of scheme, and how to line up against it. I don't care how ND lines up, but if they get somebody on the pitch in the same manner, and get of the line into the backfield quicker, ND will win those two games.
First was Zeke Motta. Motta was so quick getting down hill to make a play on the pitch man and did it often. Even if he wasn't making the tackle, he slowed down the back enough to allow pursuit to catch up, minimize the gain, and often led to Navy being in less desirable third down situations. If ND can find somebody to do that this season, it will also allow its best defensive player in Jaylon Smith to pursue the QB, which will be extremely critical considering the quality of triple option QB's ND will face this season.
The other thing that stood out was just how quickly and often the d-line was penetrating their backfield. Penetration obviously will disrupt any offense, but when you have to have such precision in making a choice between three different options, and the defense is constantly in your face, it is bound to lead to something bad. Bad reads, bad pitches, turnovers, you name it. Also, was noticing Navy tightening their normally wide splits to open up the fullback on the initial option. When you penetrate, force tighter splits, you take away the fullback and it is not triple option football anymore. I don't care who it is, but keep fresh legs in the GT Navy games who is getting in the backfield quickly and often, ND will win those games.
There's been a lot of talk of scheme, and how to line up against it. I don't care how ND lines up, but if they get somebody on the pitch in the same manner, and get of the line into the backfield quicker, ND will win those two games.
